Supporters of Labour Party Presidential Candidate Peter Obi on Sunday disrupted the planned ARISE News/CDD Town Hall Meeting in Abuja.
The supporters protested the representation of other presidential candidates by their running mates, insisting that the townhall will not hold in the absence of some presidential candidates.
All attempts to bring the situation under control failed, as the venue of the meeting was turned into a theatre of protests and chants by supporters of Mr Peter Obi, chanting “No VP, only presidential candidates debate, we will not accept, it is a presidential candidate debate, we will not tolerate that. We don’t want second fiddle.”
Arise TV’s Dr Reuben Abati, tried to persuade the angry crowd of supporters to allow the meeting proceed on the basis that it was a townhall meeting and not a presidential debate to no avail.
The townhall is being organised by ARISE News Channel, in collaboration with Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), a non-governmental organisation, with a focus on Security and Economy will have a panel of interviewers, a participatory audience of invited guests, and was supposed to be the first in the series of engagements with candidates in the countdown to the 2023 Presidential Election.
The candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Mr Bola Ahmed Tinubu reportedly turned down the invitation, while the main opposition party candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, flew into the country Sunday night from the United States of America, where he visited as part of his campaign activities.